Christianity and Climate Change: Understanding the Range of Responses

Janel Curry is Dean for Research and Scholarship and Professor of Geography at Calvin College. She has held numerous leadership positions in the area of rural geography, including chair of the board of the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University and chair of the Rural Geography Specialty Group of the Association of American Geographers.

In her talk, Curry will go beyond the stereotypes of the relationship between Christians and the environment. She presents a framework for comparing the attitudes of different Christian traditions toward environmental issues and policies and the implications for climate change policy. Since Lynn White's famous article on the relationship between Christianity and ecological destruction, many environmental activists have accused this faith community of inaction or actions that are ecologically destructive when it comes to environmental protection and health. However, recent concerns over climate change have led several scientific and environmental organizations to begin building bridges with the range of Christian traditions, recognizing that all must be part of the solution to global climate change.